Riverside County backs immigration proposal

Following a lengthy debate, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to endorse the bipartisan plan for immigration reform put forth by a group of eight U.S. senators.

However, at the urging of Supervisors Jeff Stone and Kevin Jeffries, who represent Southwest County, the board emphasized the support was narrowly focused on the proposal unveiled in late January and not necessarily what may emerge as the final product later.

The board also added an amendment calling on Congress to reimburse Riverside County and other local governments for unfunded costs of providing health care, education, unemployment and other services to illegal immigrants, and jailing undocumented people who commit crimes.

According to the original proposal, the Washington Post reported, legalization would be afforded almost immediately to undocumented immigrants, provided they pay back taxes and a fine. But there would not be an opportunity to pursue full citizenship until the border was secured and new systems were in place for employers to verify workers’ immigration status.

The proposal also called for tying flows of legal immigration to the nation’s unemployment rate, but generally expanding visa programs to discourage people from crossing the border illegally.

The idea of taking a stand on the reform proposal was advanced by Supervisors Marion Ashley and John Benoit, the latter of whom may face a tough challenge in 2014 for re-election from a Latino lawmaker in the ethnically diverse district that extends from Palm Springs to the Colorado River.

Stone suggested the resolution was "about votes."

The three-term supervisor from Temecula embarked on a long address, in which he said he himself was the product of European immigrant grandparents who followed the rules in coming to the United States.

"And here we are today circumventing the laws of this country," Stone said, suggesting the senators' proposal was a plan for amnesty.

"Our border security should be No. 1," he said. "I do not support giving amnesty."

Stone said he would not vote for the resolution unless it called on Congress to reimburse local government for expenses serving undocumented immigrants.

Jeffries said he would not vote for it, either, unless the board clarified that it was only supporting the initial proposal. The new supervisor from Lakeland Village noted that legislation often changes dramatically before it becomes law.

Jeffries also suggested that taking a stand was largely meaningless, in that it would probably be ignored as were most resolutions the Legislature routinely passed while he was in the state Assembly.

"I've only been here two months and I feel like I'm back in the state Legislature," he said.

Their colleagues found a way to work in the Stone and Jeffries amendments.

But Ashley countered Stone's argument.

Ashley said the senators' proposal calls for strengthening the border, increasing surveillance with drones, cracking down on visa overstays, introducing a national employee verification system and consulting with border communities before opening a pathway to citizenship that will require people in the U.S. illegally to go to the "back of the line."